Southwest Chief Running Only Two Coaches

[AlanB]

If I understand right, they are able to push every car in their fleet into service by deferring maintenance and pushing inspection schedules around so as to not have any in the shop during the holiday pinch?

That's what Amtrak does for Thanksgiving, the busiest period of the year for them. Basically they cancel all maintenance, try to have almost no cars in the shop for mandatory inspections, etc. Yes, no matter what there are always some cars still in the shop, but that number is far lower than at any other point in the year.

To have spare cars just "sitting" around to be hitched up on short notice to a train because demand went to Jupiter would be awesome, and it would also mean that trains like the LSL could have as many as 10 Viewliner sleepers hitched into the consist because they continued to sell out of rooms at only nine sleepers.

And it would be an awful waste of money to have all those cars just sitting around much of the time. Cars that they'd most likely be paying off loans on.

I'm not saying that it wouldn't be nice to have a small surge fleet, but it is a fine line that one must walk too. A car that gets out on the road less than 100 times per year is a car that Amtrak probably shouldn't own.

 

[AlanB]

There is a difference between adding cars for peak periods and taking them off for slow periods vs. adding an extra car to a train just because next Tuesday's run to California is almost sold out. That's an example, I didn't actually go check. Amtrak won't just add a car because sales on one day are going through the roof.

But again, they do add cars around major holidays and during other peak periods.

My question is what Amtrak would do with those cars when demand is low.

I more or less was writing the answer to your question, even as you were asking it.

But again, for Thanksgiving Amtrak tries to schedule things so that no or very few cars need mandatory inspections that weekend, and all cars that can safely be operated are out of the shops. The rest of the year, normal inspections take place as mandated, major overhaul work is done. During the summer they try to minimize major overhauls so as to have more cars available.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

There is a difference between adding cars for peak periods and taking them off for slow periods vs. adding an extra car to a train just because next Tuesday's run to California is almost sold out. That's an example, I didn't actually go check. Amtrak won't just add a car because sales on one day are going through the roof.

But again, they do add cars around major holidays and during other peak periods.

My question is what Amtrak would do with those cars when demand is low.

I more or less was writing the answer to your question, even as you were asking it.

But again, for Thanksgiving Amtrak tries to schedule things so that no or very few cars need mandatory inspections that weekend, and all cars that can safely be operated are out of the shops. The rest of the year, normal inspections take place as mandated, major overhaul work is done. During the summer they try to minimize major overhauls so as to have more cars available.

So they are just stretching cars to the limit, which means that they can't add significant capacity to trains. I wish they would have more flexibility, like using extra Viewliners on the SS/SM during the winter, LSL for the summer.

 

[AlanB]

I wish they would have more flexibility, like using extra Viewliners on the SS/SM during the winter, LSL for the summer.

Well that used to happen several years ago, and that may well start happening again once the 25 new Viewliner II sleepers are in service.

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

I wish they would have more flexibility, like using extra Viewliners on the SS/SM during the winter, LSL for the summer.

Well that used to happen several years ago, and that may well start happening again once the 25 new Viewliner II sleepers are in service.

Oh, well that would be great to see again.

 

[PaulM]

There are endless threads here about how great it would be if Amtrak would add and subtract cars when needed and how it is just not in their DNA and is also not a simple process. Hard to believe that has somehow changed for this train.

Especially since the train is being sold out.

I read not long ago an article in Trains Magazine that claimed Amtrak was doing just that. I thought at the time that it sure went against AU conventional wisdom.

There is a difference between adding cars for peak periods and taking them off for slow periods vs. adding an extra car to a train just because next Tuesday's run to California is almost sold out. That's an example, I didn't actually go check. Amtrak won't just add a car because sales on one day are going through the roof.

But again, they do add cars around major holidays and during other peak periods.

I'll have to revisit the article; but I still think it said Amtrak was trying to size consists based on sales. The author may very well have been talking about corridor, not LD trains where things are more complicated..

I do know that from time to time the IZ has 5 rather than the usual 4 coaches. This included last Friday's southbound where almost every seat was needed. The next day's CS was sold out. I wish I had gotten a peak at its consist to see if it had more than its usual 3 coaches.

 

[Eric S]

There are endless threads here about how great it would be if Amtrak would add and subtract cars when needed and how it is just not in their DNA and is also not a simple process. Hard to believe that has somehow changed for this train.

Especially since the train is being sold out.

I read not long ago an article in Trains Magazine that claimed Amtrak was doing just that. I thought at the time that it sure went against AU conventional wisdom.

There is a difference between adding cars for peak periods and taking them off for slow periods vs. adding an extra car to a train just because next Tuesday's run to California is almost sold out. That's an example, I didn't actually go check. Amtrak won't just add a car because sales on one day are going through the roof.

But again, they do add cars around major holidays and during other peak periods.

I'll have to revisit the article; but I still think it said Amtrak was trying to size consists based on sales. The author may very well have been talking about corridor, not LD trains where things are more complicated..

I do know that from time to time the IZ has 5 rather than the usual 4 coaches. This included last Friday's southbound where almost every seat was needed. The next day's CS was sold out. I wish I had gotten a peak at its consist to see if it had more than its usual 3 coaches.

I too recall that article, and like you admit I should probably re-read it to confirm, but I believe the trains referenced in the article were various Midwest corridors.

 

[PaulM]

I too recall that article, and like you admit I should probably re-read it to confirm, but I believe the trains referenced in the article were various Midwest corridors.

The article was titled "Shuffling cars to add customers" in the March 2012 edition of Trains. It did mention Thanksgiving; and in fact one of the pictures showed 3 Amfleets and the dome "beefing up" a Lincoln Service train the day after Thanksgiving. However, the gist of the article can be summarized in several quotes:

"... game plan that oversees demand for every train every single day ..."

"... developing a series of add-on moves that became part of the weekly operating plan."

Speaking of the Midwest and how the (some would say phoney) CN axle count causes more than usual planning constraints:

"As ridership begins to crystallize the week before departure, the number of serviceable cars determine which consist needs to be upsized."

Granted, with one exception, the examples dealt with NE regional, Midwest corridor, and Empire Service trains. The lone LD example was was when 3 superliner coaches and a sleeper, the latter dropped in Memphis, were added to the C of NO.

As I said earlier, a bit indelicately perhaps, this was all news to me. But when you think about it, an outsider's reaction would be "You mean they haven't been doing that from the beginning?" I don't care how short Amtrak is of cars, there's no law that says you can't move what you have around to maximize revenue -- just another benefit of the reservation system.

 

[Mackensen]

Amtrak has flexed the consist on the Wolverines for several years now. I've seen them as low as four cars (3 Horizon + Amfleet BC/Cafe) and as high as ten (!) during holidays (8 Horizon + 2 BC/Cafe). The CONO is an interesting case--it really becomes a different train south of Memphis. My impression based on riding it last January was that at least half the passengers who boarded in Illinois got off in Memphis. Hardly anyone rode through to New Orleans.

 

[Eric S]

Amtrak has flexed the consist on the Wolverines for several years now. I've seen them as low as four cars (3 Horizon + Amfleet BC/Cafe) and as high as ten (!) during holidays (8 Horizon + 2 BC/Cafe). The CONO is an interesting case--it really becomes a different train south of Memphis. My impression based on riding it last January was that at least half the passengers who boarded in Illinois got off in Memphis. Hardly anyone rode through to New Orleans.

I believe others with personal experience have indicated that this has been the case since IC passenger days, with significantly greater ridership between CHI & MEM than MEM & NOL. Seems that a CHI-MEM day train would see pretty solid ridership (assuming TN could be persuaded to join IL in funding said train).

 

[Eric S]

The article was titled "Shuffling cars to add customers" in the March 2012 edition of Trains.

Thanks for looking that up. (Saved me the effort.)

 

[Swadian Hardcore]

Amtrak has flexed the consist on the Wolverines for several years now. I've seen them as low as four cars (3 Horizon + Amfleet BC/Cafe) and as high as ten (!) during holidays (8 Horizon + 2 BC/Cafe). The CONO is an interesting case--it really becomes a different train south of Memphis. My impression based on riding it last January was that at least half the passengers who boarded in Illinois got off in Memphis. Hardly anyone rode through to New Orleans.

Same with Crescent. Most pax get off by ATL.